Graduate Funding Competition How to use the online nomination system TOAST

Transcription

1 Graduate Funding Competition 2018 How to use the online nomination system TOAST 1

2 **This document should be read in conjunction with the 2018 Graduate Funding Competition - guidance and marking scheme document** Before starting the on-line nomination process, please ensure you have carefully read these instructions. Registering Go to and log in using your Raven User-ID and Password To register on TOAST for the first time, please your name, CRSID and department to the Graduate Funding team who will set up your account - graduate.funding@admin.cam.ac.uk Helpful Tips: You should use the test function to ensure the system has your correct address Departments in the drop down list appear in exactly the same format as in CamSIS so are not in exact A-Z order (e.g. a few departments with longer names use Dept. of. instead of Department of. and Centre will appear before Department ) You must save all changes for them to take effect; the system will not automatically save. We recommend that you save regularly. Click Save and Continue. You will then be taken to the Choose Round screen if there is more than one round open and you will need to choose the round you are nominating for. When there is just one round open; you will automatically be taken to the Nominate screen. Full details of the funding rounds and eligibility are given in the attached 2018 Graduate Funding Competition - guidance and marking scheme. 2

3 TOAST Home page Once in the system, users will see the following menu system at the top of the screen: All the resources required to successfully submit your nominations are contained here. Overview of sections: Choose Round (Nomination tab) There will be two funding rounds for which departments will be asked to nominate applicants. Users must choose which funding round they wish to work with when multiple rounds are open. Where there is just one round open e.g. Round 1 (Gates Cambridge US), users will be automatically taken to the nominations screen. Round 2 has 2 deadlines for applicants to submit their application dependent on the course they are applying for but 1 deadline for Depts to submit their nominations 8 Feb 2018 Step 1: Nominations tab Viewing applicants: Users will be able to view a full list of all applicants who have applied to their department by the Graduate Funding Competition deadline. This data can be exported into an Excel sheet. 3

4 If your department is not visible in the drop down list, this is because there are no applicants to consider in that round. Nominating applicants: Users will be able to select applicants to nominate for funding by opening an individual applicant record. Here users must provide key nomination information (e.g. scores, comments and, for Gates Cambridge, tick a box) before adding them to a final list of nominated applicants. **Update** Please note that the nomination system will remember scores for each application that is nominated so if you wish to nominate the same application in multiple rounds you will not need to re-input all the data. It will also be possible to override secondary ranking data from previous rounds if you wish. However you should not amend the scoring. Step 2: Review and submit tab Review: This page allows users to review their list of nominated applicants, export the information to save the list of their nominations in Excel, and (where required) add a secondary ranking for those applicants with the same total scores. Please ensure you export your list at this stage as it will not be possible to access this information again after you make the final submission. Submit: This page will allow users to make their final submission for their department, which will be confirmed by . Completing your nomination step by step Step 1 - How to nominate Please check at the top of the page that you are nominating for the correct funding round. Main page When you select your department from the drop down list you will have access to a list of all postgraduate applicants (PhD, MLitt/MSc, MPhil and other one-year courses) who have registered for funding for 2018 entry. In the case of the Gates Cambridge US round the list should be limited to eligible applicants who applied for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship by the deadline in mid- October (please do double check that you are only nominating eligible candidates). You are able to sort the records by clicking on any of the headers (e.g. if you wish to sort by Subject and Degree, click the header to sort) see below. For full details about the applicant, and to enter nomination details, click view to open the individual applicant record. 4

5 Individual applicant record The individual applicant record contains both non-editable details, as well as the section which must be completed by departments for those applicants they wish to put forward for funding. This non-editable section will confirm which, if any, funding competition(s) the applicant has applied for. If any changes need to be made to the non-editable section (e.g. Subject and Degree) - please refer to the FAQ section later in this document. Non-editable section Editable section The following section must be completed for every applicant you wish to nominate for funding. 5

6 Step-by-Step instructions: Gates Cambridge Nomination: If you wish to nominate the applicant for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship you must tick the Gates box. Your Departmental Gates allocation and submission total is displayed, including the number remaining. You are not permitted to exceed the department maximum number, which is for both PhD and one-year applicants. You may, however, nominate fewer applicants than the total number allocated to your department. Scoring (all nominations): Please enter the relevant Academic, Reference and Research potential (PhD & MRes only) scores please refer to the Marking Scheme for Postgraduate Funding for 2018 entry for further information on this. Scoring Rationale: Comments must be given in the following circumstances: You have nominated the applicant for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship The overall score is 17 or above for a Masters applicant The overall score is 27 or above for a PhD/MRes applicant 6

7 Departments must provide a justification of the scores for each component. Of particular importance are comments that add extra value to the component scores; tangible evidence should be used wherever possible. It is helpful to provide informed comments about individual strengths and weaknesses in any given application, and why Cambridge is a particularly appropriate place for the applicant to study. This comment will be used by all potential funding sources. Please note: There is a character limit of 4,000 for the comment field. Bonus Point- special cases: A bonus point can be awarded and should be reserved for cases of success in the face of adversity or other exceptional circumstances. If a bonus point is awarded, departments must provide an explanation in the Scoring Rationale comments section. Total scores cannot exceed the maximum: PhD - 30, MPhil General Comments: For Gates Cambridge applicants, this section can be used to highlight the candidate fit with the scholarship. If additional costs, such as Bench Fees, will be requested from the candidate, please mention the amount in this section. Please use this section to highlight other important aspects of the candidate s application. If Department co-funding is available, please enter the value of any available departmental; co-funding for the applicant. This step is not required in the Gates Cambridge US round. If Research Council funding is available, please enter details of any Research Council funding available for the applicant. You now have the following options: Save and continue: this will save your record and return you to the full list of applicants Save: this will save your record and remain on the current screen Add to final list: this will add the applicant (and nomination information) to the final list, which you will have a chance to review before final submission. The applicant will now no longer appear on the main list, you will now find this applicant on the Review and Submit page. Cancel: this will discard all edits since your last save* Previous/Next record: will navigate you through the records, you must save all changes before progressing through records. * Please note: You must save all changes for them to take effect; the system will not automatically save, we recommend that you save regularly. Nominating more applicants: Continue to add details for all applicants the department wishes to nominate. You can return to the departmental list of applicants and make further submissions until the final deadline. Please remember to complete the final Review and Submit step in the process. 7

8 Review and submit: From the Nominate page, please proceed to next step: Review and submit by clicking on the tab at the top of the page. Step 2 - Review and Submit Review and Submit: this page lists all the applicants that you have nominated for a scholarship. On this page you can: View all applicants you have added to your department s nomination list Remove an applicant from this list by selecting Remove. Or, if you need to make further edits to an applicant (e.g. change their score) you can select view, make amendments and re-submit them to the final list in the same process you followed initially. To return to the list of all applicants who have applied to your department click the Nominate tab at the top of the page. Secondary ranking By default, nominated applicants are sorted by their total score. Where the total score is the same for two or more students you must differentiate them by adding a Secondary Rank. As demonstrated below, all applicants that fall into the same Total Score bracket have been given a secondary rank from the drop down box, with 1 being the highest. Please do not assign the same Secondary Rank to applicants with the same total score - it is very important that funding bodies are able to differentiate these applicants. You must double-check all secondary ranking as the system will not detect any errors. Export Nomination Data you must export a file summarising your list, which allows you to keep a full record of your nominations, before submitting your department s nominations. 8

9 Please note: All submissions are final so it is important that you download the nomination data to double-check your list of nominations before submitting them. Once you have submitted your department s nominations it will not be possible to use the export nomination data function. Validate Ready to Submit this is to verify your scores are ready for submission. By clicking the box the system will check for duplications or any secondary rankings that are missing. Submit Final List this will submit your department s final list of nominations to the funding bodies. This step is final, and you will not be able to make any further edits after this point. Once you submit, a window will appear asking you to confirm submission. If you wish to add further applicants to the list before submitting, you can use the menu system at the top of the page and return to Nominate. Submission: After a successful submission the following will occur: An on-screen message will appear informing you that all Department s nominees are successfully submitted You will receive an confirming your nominations to the address registered note: this will not include details of the applicants you nominated. Your department will no longer be permitted to make any further edits or nominations; if someone tries to access the department s information after a submission they will receive an on-screen message explain that the department has already submitted its data. 9

10 FAQs: An applicant is not showing on my nomination list If you do not see an applicant on the departmental list that you were expecting, it is likely that they did not apply before the deadline, did not tick the box to be considered for funding or are not eligible for the current round of competition. If you believe that an eligible candidate has been missed, please contact us via the address below with details of their application. An applicant has changed department or course If an applicant has changed department or course since their initial application (e.g. they are now showing in the wrong department list or they have the wrong course details) please contact us via the address below including their name, old course and new course name and application number so we can update our records. I have made the final submission but want to make further nominations Please only submit when you are ready. In the case that it is essential that you change your final submission, please contact us via the address below so that we can allow for you to resubmit. I missed the deadline! It is very important to our process that all nominations are made by our deadline (ideally well before!) Therefore, we are unable to take late submissions, as the round will be closed, and the on-line form will no longer be available to you. My department does not wish to nominate any applicants or, we don t have any in our list If there are no applicants you wish to nominate, you are not required to do anything. As a matter of thoroughness, we ask that you either us to let us know; or, submit a nil return (by simply choosing your department on the Nominate page, and on Step 2: Review and Submit, Submit final list with no applicants nominated. MRES students can be scored as Doctoral applicants (e.g. on Research Potential) The form has been amended to allow this following a request from departments. Contact Us For all of the above cases, or if you have any questions, experience any difficulties or would like to send us feedback about the system, please the following address: Funding.Nominations@admin.cam.ac.uk Thank you! On behalf of all the funding bodies, we are hugely grateful for the essential work Departments undertake in helping us award scholarships and bursaries to the most outstanding and deserving candidates. 10